Rotary internal combustion engine

ABSTRACT

A rotary internal combustion engine comprising two aligned cylindrical housings separated by a central disc and closed by two end discs thus forming a compressor and a motor. The housings form separate stators for the compressor and the motor. A rotor is mounted coaxially within each stator and both rotors are secured to a common shaft. Each stator includes a number of inwardly extending projections and each rotor includes a number of radial blades projecting therefrom and adapted to contact the stator to form with the projections on the stator identical compression chambers in the compressor and identical combustion chambers in the motor. The blades of the rotor of the motor lead the blades of the rotor of the compressor. Conduits means are located in the central disc and cooperate with similar conduit means in the rotors for communicating the compression chambers formed between the projections and the blades of the compressor with the combustion chambers formed between the corresponding projections and the blades of the motor to transfer the medium compressed in the compression chambers of the compressor into the combustion chambers of the motor when the rotor of the compressor is at the predetermined location with respect to the stator of the compressor.

United States Patent 1 Lepine [4 1 Feb. 13, 1973 1 ROTARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE [76] Inventor: Rene Lepine, 815 Batiscan Street,

Duvemay, Laval, Quebec, Canada [22] Filed: Dec. 4, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 95,275

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 26, 1970 Canada ..073l26 [52] US. Cl. ..l23/8.4l, 418/210, 418/266 [51] Int. Cl ..F02b 53/00 [58] Field of Search ..123/8.41,8.23;418/13,21O

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,487,816 l/l970 Wild et a1. ..123/8.41

3,537,432 11/1970 Jordaan ..123/8.41

3,270,719 9/1966 Hamada 123/801 3,215,129 11/1965 Johnson ..l23/8.23

3,213,838 10/1965 Douroux ..123/8.4l

2,273,754 2/1942 Hand ..123/8.23 2,608,960 9/1952 Kunz.... ..4l8/210 Primary Examiner-Paul E. Maslousky Attorney-Raymond A. Robic [57] ABSTRACT A rotary internal combustion engine comprising two aligned cylindrical housings separated by a central disc and closed by two end discs thus forming a compressor and a motor. The housings form separate stators for the compressor and the motor. A rotor is mounted coaxially within each stator and both rotors are secured to a common shaft. Each stator includes a number of inwardly extending projections and each rotor includes a number of radial blades projecting therefrom and adapted to contact the stator to form with the projections on the stator identical compression chambers in the compressor and identical combustion chambers in the motor. The blades of the rotor of the motor lead the blades of the rotor of the compressor. Conduits means are located in the central disc and cooperate with similar conduit means in the rotors for communicating the compression chambers formed between the projections and the blades of the compressor with the combustion chambers formed between the corresponding projections and the blades of the motor to transfer the medium compressed in the compression chambers of the compressor into the combustion chambers of the motor when the rotor of the compressor is at the predetermined location with respect to the stator of the compressor.

8 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEDFEB13 I975 3.713033 SHEET 10F 4 INVENTOR Rene LEPINE A TTORNE Y PATENTEDFEB 13 I975 SHEET 2 m 4 INVENTOR Relic LEPINE SHEET 3 OF 4 PAIENTEDFEB 13 1975 INVENTOR Rene LEPINE A TTORNE Y PATENTEDFEB 13 i975 3,716,033 SHEET u [1F 4 INVENTOR Rene LEPINE ATTORNEY ROTARY INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE This invention relates to a rotary internal combustion engine.-

F or many years, designers have attempted to create a rotary internal combustion engine having all the advantages theoretically possible with such a type of engine but, unfortunately, have produced a number of engines which were of complicated construction and subject to flaws which made their widespread use impractical. The most publicized of the aboveengines has been the Wankel rotary engine which, among its advantages over the conventional piston engines, could develop a powerstroke of 90 for each of the three chambers thereof, thus producing approximately 2 70 of power stroke per revolution. However, the shaft of such motors is excentric and consequently not perfectly balanced. U.S. Pat. No. 3,2l3,838 discloses a rotary internal combustion engine having a minimum number of parts including a compressor and a motor mounted side by side and having conduit means for transferring the fuel mixture from the compressor to the motor. Such motor is capable of developing two power strokes each of 180 per revolution which is an improvement over the Wankel engine. However, a valve must be provided in the conduit means for transferring the fuel mixture from the compressor to the motor and such valve constitutes a further part to maintain in good operating condition.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a rotary internal combustion engine having a higher power output by increasing the number of power strokes obtained for reach revolution of the engine without increasing proportionally the weight of the engme.

7 It is a further object of the invention to provide a rotary engine having a compressor and a motor which are interconnected directly without the use of a valve.

The rotary internal combustion engine, in accordance with the invention, comprises at least two aligned cylindrical housings, said two cylindrical housings being separated by a central disc and closed by two end discs thus forming a compressor and a motor. The housings form separate stators for the compressor and the motor. A rotor is mounted coaxially within each stator and both rotors are secured to a common shaft. Each stator includesa number of inwardly extending projections and each rotor includes a number of radial blades projecting therefrom and adapted to contact the stator and to form with the projections of the stator identical compression chambers in the compressor and identical combustion chambers inthe motor. The blades of the rotor of the motor lead the blades of the rotor of the compressor. Conduit means are located in the central disc and cooperate with similar conduit means in the rotors for communicating the compression chambers formed between the projections and the blades of the compressor with the combustion chambers formed between the corresponding projections and the leading blades of the motor to transfer a medium compressed in the compression chambers of the compressor into the combustion chambers of the motor when the rotor of the compressor is at a predetermined location with respect to the stator of the compressor.

The invention will now be disclosed, by way of example, with reference to the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof and to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exploded viewof a rotary internal combustion engine in accordance with the invention;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are section views taken along lines 2 2 and 33 respectively of the rotary internal combustion engine illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5;

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate section view taken along lines 4-4 and 5-5 respectively of FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings;

FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of a portion of the rotary internal combustion engine showing the conduit means interconnecting the compressor and the motor;

FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 (which appears on the same sheet as FIG. 2) illustrate the operation of the rotary internal combustion engine; and

FIG. 10 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the compressor used in the rotary internal combustion engme.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown an exploded view of a rotary internal combustion engine including two aligned cylindrical housings "land 12 separated by a central disc 14 and closed by two end discs 16 and l8.

A shaft 20 is mounted for rotation in end discs 16 and 18 and carries two rotors 22 and 24 which are secured to the shaft 20 by means of a conventional key and keyway arrangement 25. Stator 10 and rotor 22 form the compressor whereas stator 12 and rotor 24 form the motor of the rotary combustion engine. The assembly is held together by means of bolts 26 and nuts 27. It is to be understood that other means of securing the assembly together could be used.

The inside circumference of stators l0 and 12 is generally cylindrical except for two projections 28 the function of which will be disclosed later.

The rotors 22 and 24, as better illustrated in FIGS. 2 to 5, comprise an inner cylinder 30 surrounding the shaft and an outer cylinder 32 attached to the inner cylinder by means of spokes 34. Two opposite spokes of each rotor have slots therein for receiving blades 36 which are biased by springs 38 against the interior circumference of the stator.

The projections 28 of stators l0 and 12 are aligned. However, the blades 36 of the rotor 24 of the motor lead the corresponding blades of the compressor by a predetermined angle for a purpose which will be explained later.

In the embodiment disclosed, there are two projections on the stators and two blades on the rotors. However, the number of projections or blades may be higher than two. Such number has been chosen by way of example only.

It is also to be noted that the projections of the stators of the compressor and of the motor as well as the blades of the respective rotors are equally spaced with respect to each other so that the spacings between adjacent projections or blades are all equal in order to form identical compression chambers in the compressor and combustion chambers in the motor.

As illustrated more clearly in FIG. 6, the central disc 14-has conduit means therein in the form of two identical'slots 40 and 40a extending half way across the disc and overlapping each other at a location in alignment with the projections 28 of the stators. The rotor 22 of the compressor has a conduit 42 therein originating at the circumference of the rotor right in front of blade 36 in the direction of rotation of the rotor and terminating on the side wall thereof. Similarly, rotor 24 of the motor has a conduit 44 originating at the circumference of the rotor right behind the blade 36 in the direction of rotation of the rotor and terminating on the side wall thereof. The distance between the openings of the conduits 42 and 44 on the side walls of the rotors is equal to the length of the slots 40 or 40a for a reason which will be disclosed later.

A sealing ring 45 is provided around the openings of conduits 42 and 44 on the sides of the rotors for sealing such openings. In addition, two sealing rings 46 are located on each side wall of each rotor and a sealing ring 47 on each side of each stator is provided for sealing the chambers of the compressor and of the motor.

End plates 16 and 18 are provided with suitable intake and exhaust openings 48 and 49 respectively and with additional openings for receiving spark plugs 50. lt is to be understood that fuel injectors will have to be provided in place of spark plugs for diesel type engines. Furthermore, the fuel injection type engines, additional openings will have to be provided for fuel injectors.

The end plate 18 further includes an inlet opening 52 and an outlet opening 54 for circulating a cooling medium through the rotors. Oil or another suitable liquid is placed in the open portion of the rotors. Such oil is circulated by centrifugal forces through outlet 54 to be cooled by an outside radiator and comes back into the engine through inlet 52. It is to be understood that suitable means may also be provided for cooling the stators as commonly known in the art.

The above disclosed rotary engine operates as follows:

Referring to H68. 7, 8 and 9, which illustrate diagrammatically the compression and combustion chambers of the compressor and the motor respectively, it may be seen that the displacement of the blades varies the volume of the above chambers.

In FlG. 7, each blade 36 is shown in a position just past the intake opening 48. Movement of the blade 36 in the direction indicated by the arrow 56 creates a vacuum behind the blade which sucks a medium such as air or a gas mixture depending upon the particular type of engine. The continued movement of blade 36 compresses the medium in front of the blade sucked in by the previous blade because conduits 42 and 44 are closed by central disc 14. Leakage of the medium is prevented'by rings 45 located around the openings of conduits 42 and 44 on the sides of the rotors and by the rings 46 and 47 which seal the chambers. The compression continues until conduit 42 comes into alignment with the edge of slot 40. At that moment, the compressionis maximum and the transfer of the medium from the compressor to the motor is initiated.

The medium compressed between projections 28 and blades 36 of the compressor is then transferred into the combustion chambers of the motor as illustrated in FIG. 8. lt is to be understood that such a transfer is possible because the volume of the. medium in the motor is originally nul. When blades 36 of the compressor come into alignment with projections 28, the volume of the medium in the compressor is nul while the volume of the medium in the motor is maximum. During such a transfer, leakage of the medium is prevented by seals 45, 46, and 47 as mentioned above. In addition, the volume of the medium now contained in the motor is the same as the one originally contained in the compressor. The pressure is slightly increased due to movement and friction of the medium during the transfer but this advantageously increases the combustion pressure.

It will be noted that slot 40a must have the same length as slot 40 in order to insure a full transfer of the medium from the compressor to the motor.

It will be easily understood that the compression ratio of the engine may be varied by increasing or decreasing the length of the combined slots 40 and 40a in central disc 14. However, it must be noted that no valves are required such as in the engines of the prior art.

The medium contained in the motor between projections 28 and blades 36 is then ignited by suitable means such as spark plugs 50 for gas engines as illustrated in FIG. 9. The explosion produced pushes on blades 36 and causes rotation of the motor as indicated by arrows 58. The blades subsequently move in front of exhaust openings 49. At such a time, the pressure of the medium falls to the atmospheric pressure. The following blade pushes the burnt gas out of the motor.

lt will be seen that a portion of the compressed medium remains trapped in the slots 40 during the transfer of the medium from the compressor to the motor. However, such medium is not lost because it is recuperated by the next transfer cycle and the pressure thereof equalized with the pressure of such next transfer cycle.

The medium which remains in conduit 42 of the compressor increases slightly the pressure of the next compressor cycle. However, the medium which remains in the conduit 44 of the motor is burnt.

The motor so far disclosed is one in which there is a partial expansion of the medium in the motor or, in other words, a high exhaust pressure. If a motor having a total expansion or a noiseless motor requiring no muffler is wanted, the compression chambers may be reduced in volume as illustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 10. A second intake opening 48a is provided in end disc 16 and a conduit 60 is connected to the second opening 48a and feeds the medium pushed by blade 36 back into the first intake opening 48. The location of opening 480 is determined so as to permit entry of a volume of compressed medium in the compressor which will be completely expanded in the motor. The

trust exerted by the medium recirculated in conduit 60 will accelerate the primary intake and facilitate the final intake. It will also create a turbulence in the intake.

In the case of a complete expansion, an anti-vacuum valve may be installed in communication with each combustion chamber so as to permit a freerevolution of the motor in case of non combustion. Otherwise, a

vacuum will be created inside the combustion chambers because, in such a case, the volume of the combustion chamber is larger than the volume of the compression chamber. Such a valve could be controlled to vary the speed of the motor at will.

With the rotary engine disclosed, a single combustion chamber and a single blade provide one power stroke of 360 per revolution. When two combustion chambers are used such as in the embodiment enclosed, each blade undergoes two power strokes lasting 180 each. With two blades, there is then obtained four power strokes of 180 each or the equivalent of 720 of power strokes. This is equivalent to the original volume of two revolutions. It is to be understood that if combustion chambers are used, each blade will undergo 10 power strokes lasting 36 each. With 10 blades. there would be obtained 100 power strokes of 36 or the equivalent of 3,600 of power strokes. This is equivalent to the original volume of ten revolutions of the engine. The above permits to increase the volumetric efficiency of an internal combustion engine while increasing only slightly the dimensions of the engine. It is to be noted that, when the engine is stopped, the total volume of the combustion chambers in the last two examples is equal to the volume of the first example having only one chamber.

It is to be understood that various modifications could be made to the above disclosed embodiment. For example, the intake and exhaust openings of the compressor and of the motor as well as the spark plugs may be located in the circumference of the stators instead of on the end discs.

The various parts of the engine which are exposed t friction could be coated with a self lubrication material.

In order to prevent leakages of the gases under pressure in the compressor and in the motor, certain parts thereof may be serrated to form a labyrinth seal like on a high speed turbine shaft. The compressed gas must then expand into each groove before it spreads to the next one so leakage is thereby decreased. Suitable locations in the compressor may be the edges of the blades and in the motor the inside walls of the chambers.

The blades could be retained within the chambers by suitable abutments so as to maintain them at a predetermined distance from therotor to ensure a good sealing without too much pressure. Furthermore, the blades could be operated by cams in order to ensure a precise movement thereof. I

The rotary internal combustion engine disclosed comprises a single compressor and a single motor. However, it is to be understood that a compressor could feed plural motors. Similarly, a single motor could be fed by plural compressors. In addition, plural compressor and motor units could be connected together.

It is to be understood that the number of blades 36 may, in certain cases, vary from the number of projections 28. For example, when a single compressor feeds two-motors, the compressor will necessarily have twice as many projections as the motor but the same number of blades. Thisstruc'turecould advantageously be used with a total expansion engine in which the volume of c. a rotor mounted coaxially within each stator and secured to said shaft, each stator including plural projections spaced with respect to each other around the periphery of the stator so that the spacings between adjacent projections are all equal, and projections extending inwardly towards the outer surface of the rotor and each rotor including plural radial blades spaced with respect to each other around the periphery of said rotor so that the spacings between adjacent blades are all equal, said blades being adapted to contact said stator and to form with said projections identical compression chambers in said compressor and identical combustion chambers in said motor, the blades of the rotor of said motor leading the blades of the rotor of said compressor;

d. conduits means located in said central disc and cooperating with similar conduits means in said rotors for communicating the compression chambers I formed between the projections and the blades of said compressor with the combustion chambers formed between the corresponding projections and the leading blades of said motor to transfer the medium compressed in the compression chambers of the compressor into the combustion chambers of the motor when the rotor of said compressor is at a predetermined location with respect to the stator of said compressor; and

e. openings in communication with said compression chambers to enable a combustion medium to enter into the compressor and in communication with said combustion chambers to enable the burnt gases to escape from the motor.

2. A rotary internal combustion engine as defined in claim 1, further comprising openings in communication with said combustion chambers for receiving spark plugs.

3. A rotary internal combustion engine as defined in claim 1, wherein one of said end discs includes openings therein communicating with said rotors for circulating a cooling medium through said rotors.

4. A rotary internal combustion engine as defined in claim 1, wherein said rotor comprises a first inner cylinder secured to said shaft, an outer cylinder surrounding said inner cylinder and spokes securing said outer cylinder on said inner cylinder.

5. A rotary internal combustion engine as defined in claim 4, wherein predetermined spokes of said rotor have slots therein for receiving said blades and further comprising springs for biassing said blades into a continuous contact with said stators.

6. A rotary internal combustion engine as defined in claim 4, wherein the conduit means of said rotors'include conduits having inlets located immediately in front of the blades of said compressor and immediately behindthe blades of said motor and outlets located on the facing side ,walls of said outer cylinders, and wherein said conduit means located in said central disc comprise-two identical slots located half way on each side of said central disc and overlapping at a position in alignment with the projections in said stators.

7. A rotary internal combustion engine as defined in claim 1, further comprising means for ensuring effective sealing of the chambers into which compression and combustion take place.

8. A rotary internal combustion engine as defined in claim 1 further comprising additional openings in communication with the compression chambers for effectively reducing the volume of air compressed in each chamber of said compressor so as to ensure a complete 5 expansion of the medium in the motor to render the engine positively noiseless. 

1. An internal combustion engine comprising: a. at least two aligned cylindrical housings, said two cylindrical housings being separated by a central disc and closed by two end discs forming a compressor and a motor, said two cylindrical housings forming separate stators for said compressor and said motor; b. a shaft common to both said compressor and motor journalled in said end discs; c. a rotor mounted coaxially within each stator and secured to said shaft, each stator including plural projections spaced with respect to each other around the periphery of the stator so that the spacings between adjacent projections are all equal, and projections extending inwardly towards the outer surface of the rotor and each rotor including plural radial blades spaced with respect to each other around the periphery of said rotor so that the spacings between adjacent blades are all equal, said blades being adapted to contact said stator and to form with said projections identical compression chambers in said compressor and identical combustion chambers in said motor, the blades of the rotor of said motor leading the blades of the rotor of said compressor; d. conduits means located in said central disc and cooperating with similar conduits means in said rotors for communicating the compression chambers formed between the projections and the blades of said compressor with the combustion chambers formed between the corresponding projections and the leading blades of said motor to transfer the medium compressed in the compression chambers of the compressor into the combustion chambers of the motor when the rotor of said compressor is at a predetermined location with respect to the stator of said compressor; and e. openings in communication with said compression chambers to enable a combustion medium to enter into the compressor and in communication with said combustion chambers to enable the burnt gases to escape from the motor.
 1. An internal combustion engine comprising: a. at least two aligned cylindrical housings, said two cylindrical housings being separated by a central disc and closed by two end discs forming a compressor and a motor, said two cylindrical housings forming separate stators for said compressor and said motor; b. a shaft common to both said compressor and motor journalled in said end discs; c. a rotor mounted coaxially within each stator and secured to said shaft, each stator including plural projections spaced with respect to each other around the periphery of the stator so that the spacings between adjacent projections are all equal, and projections extending inwardly towards the outer surface of the rotor and each rotor including plural radial blades spaced with respect to each other around the periphery of said rotor so that the spacings between adjacent blades are all equal, said blades being adapted to contact said stator and to form with said projections identical compression chambers in said compressor and identical combustion chambers in said motor, the blades of the rotor of said motor leading the blades of the rotor of said compressor; d. conduits means located in said central disc and cooperating with similar conduits means in said rotors for communicating the compression chambers formed between the projections and the blades of said compressor with the combustion chambers formed between the corresponding projections and the leading blades of said motor to transfer the medium compressed in the compression chambers of the compressor into the combustion chambers of the motor when the rotor of said compressor is at a predetermined location with respect to the stator of said compressor; and e. openings in communication with said compression chambers to enable a combustion medium to enter into the compressor and in communication with said combustion chambers to enable the burnt gases to escape from the motor.
 2. A rotary internal combustion engine as defined in claim 1, further comprising openings in communication with said combustion chambers for receiving spark plugs.
 3. A rotary internal combustion engine as defined in claim 1, wherein one of said end discs includes openings therein communicating with said rotors for circulating a cooling medium through said rotors.
 4. A rotary internal combustion engine as defined in claim 1, wherein said rotor comprises a first inner cylinder secured to said shaft, an outer cylinder surrounding said inner cylinder and spokes securing said outer cylinder on said inner cylinder.
 5. A rotary internal combustion engine as defined in claim 4, wherein predetermined spokes of said rotor have slots therein for receiving said blades and further comprising springs for biassing said blades into a continuous contact with said stators.
 6. A rotary internal combustion engine as defined in claim 4, wherein the conduit means of said rotors include conduits having inlets located immediately in front of the blades of said compressor and immediately behind the blades of said motor and outlets located on the facing side walls of said outer cylinders, and wherein said conduit means located in said central disc comprise two identical slots located half way on each side of said central disc and overlapping at a position in alignment with the projections in said stators.
 7. A rotary internal combustion engine as defined in claim 1, further comprising means for ensuring effective sealing of the chambers into which compression and combustion take place. 